Polyplus-transfection SA and Merck have entered a license agreement and extended supply agreement for Polyplus-transfection’s polyethylenimine (PEI) based transfection reagents. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Polyplus-transfection will supply Merck sites worldwide with batches of high quality linear PEI transfection reagent. The reagent, formulated and subject to appropriate quality controls, helps ensure safe and reproducible protein production in medium to large scale. Merck also gains rights for the use of PEI in transient and stable transfection for research and commercial purposes.
 
“Biopharmaceutical products, especially monoclonal antibodies, continue to dominate the pharmaceutical industry. As big pharma companies continue to invest in this sector, transfection, and particularly larger scale ‘transient gene expression’ products have become a key technology in the research and early discovery phase,” said Mark Bloomfield, chief executive officer of Polyplus-transfection. “This deal between Polyplus and Merck, a global player in the development of biopharmaceuticals, is the latest in a series of license and supply agreements for Polyplus’ global and national pharma, bio-pharma and protein expression services companies.”